ORBERT DAVIS is a master trumpeter, gifted composer, and conductor. On the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Orbert also works with at-risk children through his MusicAlive! program. In addition to five CD’s and three films to his credit, Orbert debuted his Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP) in 2004 and composed a piece for the City of Chicago’s 173rd birthday. He also composed Hope in Action, a tribute to Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday which was performed by the CJP in Millennium Park. In 1995 the Chicago Tribune named Orbert one of the Arts People of the Year, and in 2003 Chicago Magazine named him one of seven Chicagoans of the Year. Last year, he was commissioned to write the music for the WTTW special, From DuSable to Obama which aired in June 2010.
Featured with Orbert is vocalist TERISA GRIFFIN, who was recently seen at Symphony Center in the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (CJE) tribute to Mahalia Jackson. She has produced and starred in a series of “One Voice, One Woman” shows — “Fantasy, A Tribute to the Divas of Song and Stage” (Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn); “Queens of R&B, A Tribute to the Queens of Rhythm and Blues” (Dinah Washington, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summers and Tina Turner); and “Song Divas – A Tribute to Famous Song Divas” (Nina Simone, Phyllis Hyman, Gladys Knight, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole and Patti LaBelle). Completing Orbert’s Quintet are ARI BROWN, saxophone; RYAN COHAN, piano; JAKE VINSEL, bass; and ERNIE ADAMS, drums.
Website: http://www.orbertdavis.com/
